"T.J. Houshmandzadeh's departure was hardly a surprise after it became clear the past two days the Seahawks were looking to get rid of the receiver.

The surprise Saturday was that more veterans did not join Houshmandzadeh among Seattle's cuts as the team trimmed its roster to 53 players.

Running back Julius Jones remains on the team. So does safety Jordan Babineaux and guard Ben Hamilton, all sticking with a team that spent a good chunk of the last month pruning veterans.

Of the 20 players Seattle released or waived, Houshmandzadeh was the only one who started a game for Seattle last season. He becomes an unrestricted free agent, eligible to sign with any other team. Seattle remains on the hook to pay him the difference between his guaranteed salary of $7 million and the 2010 salary he receives from his new team, almost certain to be the veteran minimum.

Seattle has 53 players on its roster for next week's season opener against San Francisco, but don't call it the final roster. There are certain to be changes, which will include a trade for offensive lineman Stacy Andrews from the Eagles. The Seahawks are expected to give up a seventh-round pick for Andrews, but were still waiting for the league to formally approve the deal. Andrews is a 340-pound lineman who likely will play tackle upon joining Seattle.

The Seahawks also will be looking to add a quarterback after cutting third-stringer J.P. Losman. That leaves Matt Hasselbeck and Charlie Whitehurst as the only two quarterbacks on the team. Seattle has entered the season with just two quarterbacks only once in the previous eight seasons. That was in 2007, and the Seahawks traded for Charlie Frye after the first game that season.

Arizona released quarterback Matt Leinart, a former first-round pick. Leinart won the Heisman Trophy while playing for Carroll at USC, and while plenty of people have connected the dots to project he may join the Seahawks, that remains speculation."